He was the pianist at the local bar. He was probably the best in town, to be honest. Every Saturday at 9 was his favorite part of the week. It was his favorite crowd and if he played better for them than for any other crowd, no one was complaining.
Dean sat at the bar and looked at his watch. 8:58pm and the last person just walked into the bar and he smiled. Bobby sat next to him making love to his tonic and gin. Dean smiled again, downed the rest of his beer, and turned to head to the stage. Bobby smiled at him as he passed. One last look to his watch as he jumped on stage, 9pm, 'time to start the show' he thought to himself.
He started to play a simple tune when Bobby's voice rose above everything else, "Son, can you play me a memory? I'm not really sure how it goes, but it's sad, and it's sweet, and I knew it complete when I wore a younger man's clothes." He started to hum what sounded like a few measures of a chorus, "Sing us a song, you're the piano man! Sing us a song tonight! Well, we're all in the mood for a melody, and you've got us feeling alright."
He started to play what he imagined Bobby wanted and looked over at John. John was the bartender and a really old friend of Dean's. Whenever Dean would play, John would give him his drinks for free. He could make anyone laugh and he always had a light for your smoke, but it never seemed like he really wanted to be there. He was talking to Bobby when Dean looked over, "Bob, I believe this is killing me." he said as the smile slipped from his face, "Well, I'm sure I could be a movie star, if I could only get out of this place." Dean believed whole heartedly that John could, if he only left that bar.
Scanning the crowd he noticed Ash, who's a real estate novelist who never had time for a wife, talking to Rufus, who's still in the Navy and probably will be for life, Jo's practicing politics as Sam slowly gets stoned and they're sharing a drink called loneliness, but that's better than drinking alone.
It's his favorite crowd and when he looks to the manager, Cas, he smiles because he knows its Dean they've all come to see to forget about life for awhile. The piano sounds like a carnival and the microphone smells like a beer but Dean doesn't mind because they all sit at the bar and put tips in his jar and say "Man, what're you doin' here?"
He thinks back to what Bobby said as he winds down his show and Cas starts to close up the bar. He hopes he pleased the crowd tonight and that they'll be back next week.
He ends the last song and heads back over to the bar to grab a beer from John to pass the time while he waits for everyone to leave and Cas to finish closing up. He didn't know how playing at his boyfriends bar would work out but he's glad he does. Every night after his show they go home together and Cas tells him he's the best pianist in all the world. He never believes him but still kisses him until they fall asleep. They've been doing it for the past 5 years but Dean still loves the smile he sees when Cas watches him play.